Dirigible headlight



RENNIE W. J. CRABB AND E. J.

DIRlGlBLE HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION man APR.26. 1920.

Patented Oct. 4, 1921..

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GEORGE W. J. CRABB, OF NEWARK, AND EDWARD J. RENNIE, OF BLOOMFIEL D, NEW

' i JERSEY.

DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Got. 4, 1921.

Application filed April 26, 1920. Serial No. 376,743.

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that we, GEORGE W. J. CRABB and EDWARD J. RENNIE, both citizens of the UnitedStates, and residents, respec tively, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, and Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Dirigible Headlight, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to headlights and more particularly to the class of head lights of the dirigible type, the same being in the nature of an improvement over a similar invention covered by United States Patent #l,3l8,973, patented October 14th, 1919.

In said patent, the vertical telescopic standards which support the head lights were respectively connected to the body of the vehicle and the axle, one of saidsta-ndards being provided with a joint to compensate for relative movements between the axle and the body. One disadvantage incident to such an arrangement is due to the vibration transmitted to the lamp filaments.

It is therefore one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide means for dirigibly associating a head light with a vehicle of the character described, which overcomes the above recited objection by reducing vibrations of the head light to a minimum.

In the motor vehicles of standard construction, the steering mechanism is so arranged that the front wheels are parallel when the car is running straight ahead, but causes them to stand at an angle with respect to each other when makinga turn. Where the head lights are individually op erated from each steering knuckle, the normal adjustment of the head lights for concentrating the light rays on a single point is destroyed in makinga turn. Another object therefore, of the present invention is to provide means for dirigibly associating head lights with the vehicle of this character, which eliminates the above recited objection by the provision of means which turns the head lights an equal degree in order to maintain the concentration of the ra s.

r inother object of the invention is to provide a dirigible head light, which'is capable of vertical adjus ments, in order that the samemay be applicable to vehicles of various sizes. 7

With the above recited and other objects in view, some of which will be more apparent hereafter, reference is made to the following description, claims and accompanymg drawings forming a part of this application and in which- Figure l is a fragmentary front elevation of an automobile, illustrating the invention applied thereto, parts being shown in section to disclose the underlying structure.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view takenapproximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view of a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, C designates the chassis or frame of a motor vehicle, A the front axle thereof, whichis provided. with the usual steering knuckles K at its opposite ends. The steering knuckles K are provided with the usual steering knuckle arms B which are connected by means of the tie rod T whereby the steering wheels W are simul taneously turned by the steering gear.

The invention, which is a means for dirigibly associating the head lights L with the vehicle, includes the bearing sleeves 10, of which there are preferably two. The bearing sleeves 10 are supported from the opposite side channel bars of the chassis in 7 any suitable manner, but are here illustrated as provided with threaded studs 11 passed through openings therein and secured by the clamping nuts 12 disposed at the opposite sides thereof. A second bearing sleeve 13 having an annular boss 14 is arranged in superposed relation to the bearing sleeve 10 and is supported from an angular brace rod 15 bolted as at 16 to the upper face of the side channel bars. The free upper end of the brace rod 15 is apertured for the reception of the shank 17 of a forked or bifurcated member 18, which embraces the annular boss 14 and is secured thereto at diametrically opposite points. The bosses 14 of the sleeves 13 disposed at the opposite sides of the vehicle are preferably connected by a transversely extending brace rod 19. Vertically alined shaft'sections 20 and 21 r provided and connected by a universal joint 22, the lowermost shaft section bearing in the sleeve 10. The uppermost shaft section 21 is provided with a detachable thimble 23 having its open end threadedly engaged with the upper extremity of said upper shaft section. The closed end of said thimble is provided with a polygonal opening 24. The thimble 23 is designed to be received by and operate in the sleeve 13. The upper end of the sleeve 13 is closed by a cap '25 threaded thereon and provided with an axial openingfor the receptionof the shank 26 of the head light bracket 27 which is swiveled. therein. The lower free extremity 28 of the shank 26 is polygonal and is received by the opening 2 1 in the thimble. By this arrangement it will be seen that the sleeve 13 may be vertically adjusted with respectto the sleeve 10 without affecting the operative association of the head light bracket with the shaft sec tions and thimble. The lower extremity of L travel of the vehicle at all times.

each lower shaft section is provided with a rearwardly disposed radial crank arm 29 secured thereto and said crank arms are coupled by means of a connecting rod 30. The connecting rod 30 is provided with a centrally arranged enlargement 31 having a vertical elongated slot 32. The tie rod T is provided with a forwardly projecting arm 33 having an upturned outer extremity 34 received by the slot 32. By this arrai1gement the tie rod T and the connecting rod 30 are coupled for simultaneous movement, said coupling constituting a compensating device which allows for the relative vertical movements between the chassis and the axle and the parts connected therewith.

In operation of the device, when the tie rod Tis shifted to the right for example, the engagement of the upturned extremity 34 of the arm 33 with the slot 32 of the enlargement 31 will effect a similar simultaneous movement of the connecting rod 30. The movement of the tie rod T to the right effects a turning of the steering wheels to the left through the medium of the steering knuckles. The corresponding movement of the connecting rod 30 rotates the shaft sections 20 and 21 and the thimble 23 to the left, thereby turning the head light bracket 27 in a corresponding direction. The rays of light from the head lights will be simultaneously projected in the direction of The universal oint 22 compensates for any lost motion due to vibration from the co-acting engagement of the arm 33 and enlargement 31, transmitted through the connecting rod 30 tothe shaft sections. Likewise the free vertical movement of the thimble in the sleeve 13 compensates for vertical movement of the shaft sections due to unusual road shocks. 1n the modified form illustrated in Fig. 1 of 'thedrtrwings'fin lieu of the enlarged slotted portion 31 a rectangular frame 40 is provided and the connecting rod 30 is formed in two sectionspeach. threaded into 7 the exterior bosses 11 in the frame. Channeled liners -it2 are arranged at the opposite interior longitudinal side edges of the frame and the same are normally forced toward the upturned end of the arm 34 under the action of the springs 43 disposed between each channeled liner 4.2 and the inner sides of the frame. By such an arrangemenn'the constant vibration which would be normally transmitted through the shaft sections to the lamp are absorbed by the springs.

While there has been illustrated and dc-' scribed a single and preferred embodiment of the invention, no limitation is made to the precise details of construction but it is understood that variations and modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to when secured to the said side bar, asecond sleeve having its upper end closed by an aperture-d cap, means for pivotally mounting the sleeve onthe upper end of the rod in alinement with the first sleeve, shaft sections connected together by a universal joint, the lower shaft section extending through the first sleeve and provided with a crank arm at its end, a thimble detachably secured to the upper shaft section and slidable in the second sleeve, the upper closed end of the thimble being provided with a polygonal open ing, and a headlight bracket having a shank, the lower end of :which is polygonal and extends through the openingsof the sleeve and thimble. A V s v 2. In a dirigible headlight for vehicles, the combination with the chassis, the'steering knuckle, and rod secured to the knuckle, of a sleevecarried by the chassis, a second sleeve pivotally supported from the chassis ble, and means for operating the crank from V the rod connected with the steering knuckle.

' GEORGE W J. CRABB.

EDWARD J. RENNIE. 

